I’ve bought a handful of albums this year (including Vampire Weekend’s latest a day or two ago) and curiously, four of them are country records.

I didn’t plan it that way. Brad Paisley and Pistol Annies released new albums, which I naturally snapped up as a fan of both. Then the excellent newcomer Kacey Musgraves burst onto the scene amid a flurry of great reviews so I picked that one up. Finally, Ashley Monroe, one of the Pistol Annies, released her own solo album to critical raves.

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